Handle for a heat-in-the-bag food package



R. R. HELIN Oct. 22, 1968 HANDLE FOR A HEAT-IN-THE-BAG FOOD PACKAGE Filed Nov. 10, 1966 FIG. 3

INVENTOR I RICHARD R. HELIN ATTORNEY iol .- I HANDLE FOR A HEAT-IN-THE1'BAG,' FOOD PACKAGE Richard R. Helin, Minnetonka, Minn.,,assiguor to General Mills, Inc., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 593,336 4 Claims. (Cl. 99171) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a food package. More particularly, it pertains to a food package adapted for use in the sale and heating of a food product wherein a handle forms an integral part of the package to facilitate the pouring out of the food product from the package after the product has been heated.

One object of the present invention is to provide a package in which a food product contained therein can be heated and after such heating can be easily poured therefrom.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a food package with an integral handle which permits control in pouring the food product from the package.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description in which certain preferred embodiments of the invention are disclosed. In the drawings which form a part of this application,

FIGURE 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a package according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the package shown in FIGURE 1 taken along the line 22 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows,

FIG. 3 illustrates the package shown in FIGURE 1 with one corner removed prior to pouring out the food product contained therein,

FIG. 4 shows the package of FIG. 3 in a pouring position.

The packaged illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 4, which contains a food product 10, is formed from a single piece of flexible material folded upon itself to provide a seamless bottom with a front wall 12 and a rear wall 14, superimposed one on another, to form an envelope or pouch. The walls 12 and 14 are formed from a sheet of thin, glueable or heat sealable film. This sheet can be either one material, such as nylon; a lamination of two or more materials, such as polyethylene and Mylar; or a coated sheet, such as a sheet of polyethylene coated with Mylar. The walls 12 and 14 are adhered or sealed together along lateral side edge margins or seams 16 and 18. After the pouch of the package has been filled with a food product which is pourable after it is heated, a top marginal seam 20 is formed along the top edges of the walls 12 and 14. The seam 20 is formed by either gluing, heat-sealing, or otherwise adhering together the top marginal edges of the walls 12 and 14. As will be readily apparent, the pouch of the package can be formed of two separate sheets of film corresponding in size to the walls 12 and 14 sealed together along the bottom as well as long the lateral side edge margins 16 and 18.

Some of the upper corners of the walls 12 and 14 are sealed together to form a triangular sealed double sur- 3,407,077 iice patt ned o r. 22,;1968

face gripping area 22. The lower corners ofthe wa1ls,:12 and. 14 along the, lateral side edge seam-16 adjacen t,t he triangular surface 22 are also. sealed,to ge ther toform another triangular sealed double surface gripping area 24. The gripping areas 22 and 24 provide a handle foruse in pouring out the food product from the package. The gripping areas 22 and 24 are minor portions of the entire area of the front and rear walls 12 and 14.

The upper triangular surface 22 has an aperture 26 to facilitate removing the package from a heated environment, such as boiling water, after the food product contained therein has been heated. This removal is facilitated by the fact that the package can be so removed by inserting a fork or other elongated utensil into the hole 26 and thereby being able to remove the package without grasping it with ones hands.

To empty the package, a cut need only be made at 28, and this produces an adequate opening for the complete removal of the contents from the package. After such cut 28 is made, one grasps with one hand the upper end of the handle, i.e. surface area 22, and with the other hand the lower end of the handle, i.e. surface area 24, and tilts the package as shown in FIG. 4 to pour out the food product 10 contained in the package.

The material for forming the walls 12 and 14 should have a relatively low specific heat so that the triangular areas 22 and 24 may be grasped by ones hands shortly after the package has been removed from a heated environment, such as boiling water. Material which has generally satisfied this requirement may be formed of the well known polyester films. One film which has proved satisfactory for the walls is polyethylene coated with Mylar. Mylar is a polyester film made from polyethylene terephthalate with the polymer being formed by the condensation reaction between ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. The thickness of the coating may satisfactorily range between 0.00025 inch to 0.00075 inch while the thickness of the polyethylene may satisfactorily range between .0015 inch to .0025 inch. Film thicknesses in these ranges are economic and also provide sufficient strength to enable the package to resist damage due to handling.

In view of the principles set forth herein, I have shown some of the ways of carrying out the present invention and some of the equivalents which are suggested by these disclosures.

Now, therefore, I claim;

1. A food product package comprising an envelope in which a food product may be heated and also in which such product may be delivered and stored prior to such heating, and a food product surrounded and contained by said envelope, wherein the improvement comprises a handle integral with and along one side edge of said envelope, said handle including an upper gripping corner area adjacent both the top and said one side edge of the envelope, said upper gripping corner being formed by sealing the front and rear wall material of the envelope adjacent the top and along said one side edge together, and a lower gripping corner area adjacent both the bottom and said one side edge of the envelope, said lower gripping corner being formed by sealing the front and rear wall material of the envelope adjacent both the bottom and along said one side edge together, whereby said gripping areas provide places where the package can be grasped by ones hands almost immediately after its removal from a heated environment, such as boiling water, and thereby facilitate the pouring out of the food product from the package almost immediately after it has been removed from such a heated environment.

2. A food product package as called for in claim 1 wherein said envelope material has a relatively low specific heat.

3. A food prodnct package as called for in claim 1 References Cited wherein said upper and lower gripping areas'are trifiN fE ST T PATE angular in shape.

a 2,356,078 8/1944 Meyers 229-68 Pmduct f as a l 1 5 2,779,462 1/1957 Hoag 206-56 east we P 5* 2 3,008,837 11/1961 Kaplan 229-54 vided w1t an aperture adapted for the insertion t ereln 3,156,355 11/1964 Rodgers 206 56 of an elongated utensil to facilitate the removal of the I pa from a heated environment DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Primary Examiner. 

